What is often referred to as mild incontinence and entails leakage of minor quantities of urine is not considered a mild complaint for the person afflicted. Mild incontinence is a hidden handicap, from which many people suffer. A large group of mildly incontinent men is constituted by men with prostate disorders. Many men, following a prostate operation, acquire problems with drip incontinence, which has hitherto led to mental anguish for many, since there have been no suitable incontinence protectors available.
Previously used incontinence protectors for men suffering from so-called mild incontinence are characterized in that they are often constructed in the same way as incontinence protectors intended for women suffering from mild forms of incontinence. Often, even the same types of incontinence protectors are used for both men and women. This is due to the fact that mild incontinence is more common amongst women than amongst men, with the result that incontinence protectors for women are better known and there are more variants to choose from. The incontinence protectors are specially tailored to the female anatomy and are therefore by no means especially suitable for the male anatomy.
It is also common for mildly incontinent men to use incontinence protectors intended for more severe forms of incontinence. These incontinence protectors are intended to work for both urinary incontinence and faecal incontinence and are both large and cumbersome to wear for men who are merely urine-incontinent. The use of cumbersome incontinence pads of this kind implies a major restriction in terms of men's desire to engage socially within society. These incontinence protectors are, moreover, uncomfortable to wear and extremely indiscreet beneath normal clothing.
Special incontinence protectors intended for men with mild incontinence have previously been known, but effective solutions for such incontinence protectors continue largely to be lacking.
A commonly used type of specially designed incontinence protector for urine-incontinent men comprises a substantially conical container intended to enclose the penis (and sometimes also the scrotum) of the user. The conical container usually consists of absorption material, a liquid-permeable casing material next to the genitalia of the user and a liquid-impermeable barrier layer on the outside, facing out to the environment.
The principal drawback with incontinence protectors of this type is that they are far too hot and tight and hence uncomfortable to wear for the user. An additional drawback is that the protectors, as a result of their design, are rigid and uncomfortable, with a tendency to inflict chafing or some other discomfort upon the user.
The fastening of the protectors is achieved by the conical container being clasped around the penis of the user. For certain incontinence protectors, the fastening can also be achieved by the outer side of the conical container comprising an adhesive surface, a hook-and-loop surface or the like, which is intended to be fastened to the underclothes of the user. A combination of fastening to the body and to the underclothes of the user can also be found.
One example of an incontinence protector intended for male urine-incontinent users is described in Swedish patent SE 449172. The document describes an incontinence protector for males suffering from milder forms of urinary incontinence. The protector is configured as an absorbent collecting bag intended to enclose the genitalia of the user. The opening in the collecting bag comprises a cutout in that part of the bag which is intended to be facing towards the user during use. When the protector is in use, the cutout should be positioned beneath the scrotum of the user so that the scrotum is placed inside the collecting bag together with the penis. The protector is fastened to the underpants of the user by means of an adhesive surface on the outer side of the collecting bag. A certain fastening effect is also obtained by the fact that the incontinence protector grips gently around the penis and scrotum during use. The protector comprises a plastic outer side, a liquid-permeable nonwoven layer next to the genitalia of the user, that is to say inside the collecting bag, and an absorbent structure between the plastic layer and the nonwoven layer.
A drawback with the incontinence protector described in SE 449172 is that it is hot and uncomfortable to wear as a result of the genitalia of the user being fully enclosed by all the material layers of the incontinence protector.
Another drawback is that the incontinence protector is fastened to the underclothes of the user, which implies a risk of the incontinence protector ending up remote from the penis of the user. Elderly males, the most commonly occurring category of men with incontinence problems, often tend to choose underclothes which fit loosely around the body, so that the problem of the incontinence protector ending up remote from the body is relatively prevalent. Leakage is virtually inevitable once the incontinence protector has distanced itself from the penis of the user.
Another type of incontinence protector for men is known from Swedish patent SE 450 811. The protector consists of an upper screen-like part, which, when the protector is in use, lies snugly over the penis and scrotum, and a lower part, which, when the protector is in use, curves in beneath the penis and scrotum of the user without fully enclosing them. The protector has a downward-tapering and bowl-like shape. With such a protector, a tight enclosure of the genitalia of the user is therefore avoided, which is naturally an advantage from the comfort aspect.
The protector is held in place by means of double-sided adhesive tape, arranged on the side of the protector which, during use, is facing away from the user, the double-sided adhesive tape being arranged such that the fastening is made to the pants of the user or to special fixation pants in the crotch section.
The problem with such an incontinence protector is that it does not work at all well with underpants which fit loosely around the genitalia of the user, since there is no fastening to the user.
In another patent, SE 500793, an incontinence protector is described which also has a downward-tapering and bowl-like shape. The protector, which in the extended state, has the shape of a triangle, comprises a liquid-permeable surface layer arranged on the side of the protector which, during use, is facing towards the user, a liquid-impermeable surface layer on the opposite side and an absorption body arranged between the surface layers. Along the two substantially longitudinal edges of the protector, elastic members are arranged between the surface layers, whereby the protector acquires a curved bowl shape when the elastic members contract from their, in the production, stretched state.
The patent does not describe how the protector is fastened to the user or the pants of the user during use, but it can be assumed that the protector is intended for use together with relatively tight-fitting underpants, the protector being expected to be held in place by the underpants without any special fastening members or by means of some form of fastening member, such as, for example, pressure-sensitive glue or hook-and-loop fastenings, to the underpants of the user in the crotch section.
The same problems as for the incontinence protector described in patent SE 450 811, with respect to the fastening of the incontinence protector, are also present for this incontinence protector.
Swedish patent specification SE 508240 describes an incontinence protector for men which has an initially rectangular material piece comprising a liquid-permeable surface layer arranged on the side of the protector which, during use, is facing towards the user, a liquid-impermeable surface layer on the opposite side and an absorption body arranged between the surface layers. Both edges of the material piece which are intended to extend in the direction away from the crotch section of the user towards the abdomen of the user are Z-folded, a channel having been created between the Z-folded edges. The Z-folded shape has been locked in its position by sealing of the transverse edge which is intended to be positioned at the back on the user. In addition to its form-preserving function, the seal also constitutes a barrier for urine flowing back past the rear transverse section of the incontinence protector.
When the protector is in use, the Z-folded edge regions which have not been sealed are pulled apart, whereupon the seal along the rear transverse edge holds the protector together in its rear end section. The protector has in this case a downward-tapering and bowl-like shape. The protector is held in place by means of hook-and-loop material, arranged on the side of the protector which, during use, is facing away from the user, the hook-and-loop material being arranged such that the fastening is made to the underpants of the user in the crotch section.
For this incontinence protector also, the problem exists that the protector easily distances itself from the genitalia of the user, which can lead the protector to leak.
It is generally the case with incontinence protectors fastened to the underpants of the user that they adapt to the crotch position of the fixation pants during use. When fastened to pants or fixation pants with voluminous crotch sections, this means that the incontinence protector adopts a position a little bit away from the genitalia of the user, and that the incontinence protector tends to move relative to the genitalia of the user whenever he moves. An incontinence protector which does not lie snugly against the genitalia of the user during urination implies a substantially increased risk of leakage. There is also a comfort problem associated with incontinence protectors which can shift in a more or less uncontrolled manner relative to the body of the user during use.
Incontinence protectors which are clasped onto the penis of the user usually feel uncomfortable since they get far too hot when they are used. It is therefore quite common for elderly senile men, in particular, to attempt to remove the uncomfortable incontinence protector from the body.
There therefore remains a need for an improved fastening system for mild incontinence protectors intended for urine-incontinent men. The incontinence protector must be comfortable to use and offer effective fastening of the incontinence protector throughout the time in which the protector is worn. The fastening system must further be configured such that the incontinence protector is held in place against the genitalia of the user throughout the period of use, regardless of whether the user of the incontinence protector prefers underpants or fixation pants with voluminous or tightly fitting crotch section.